i Love my Brother!

Hey hey hey!
last week i got to spend all day in Portland with my "little" brother Jeremiah! He is an amazing dude...and i'm so lucky to have him as a brother and best friend.... Portland was an adventure to be had for sure! We walked from Pioneer Park to The Old Spaghetti Factory... it's only about 2.5 miles, but there are a few freeways between the two....yes, we walked on the freeway, but only for .2 miles so it wasn't that bad, except that i was wearing a skirt and flip-flops...and the "sidewalk" is not on Portland's City Works Dept. "to do" list.... so therefore i got a few scraps from the bushes that were trying to force us onto the freeway into the path of speeding cars.... it was crazy! But oh so much fun!!! and i got my phone fixed, so i can have longer than 5 minute phone conversations! yay for Verizon!

enjoy some pics of me and my crazy brother....we wanted to take pictures of us walking on the freeway, but thought that might be dangerous =)

Forgiveness

"Forgiveness is a decision I make to obey God and walk as a lifestyle in the higher realm, by not allowing someone’s actions or attitudes to dictate what I do. Releasing them to God, while not requiring them to be accountable to me to make it right. Having the wiliness to walk in the opposite spirit making sure I am willing to be an unrestricted channel of God’s love for that person!" -Doug Easterday

Forgiveness is hard. It's part of the not easy road we walk as Christ-followers. Not because the concept is hard but actually walkng out what it means to forgive is really hard. I love this definition of forgiveness. I have heard Doug preach the message behind his definition quite a few times, and every time i learn something new and meaningful.

Today it's this "Releasing them to God, while not requiring them to be accountable to me to make it right..." It stinks when I have to give forgiveness, but intantly in my head i want them to make it right, to "fix" the situation. I want people to un-do what was done, to make my life easier.... but that's not what this says. If we think about how Christ forgave us, this definition makes a lot of sense and is really real. He doesn't require us to "make it right" to fix the problem we created.

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;"
Psalms 103:11-13

This is amazing to me. No questions asked, long before i was a glimmer in me mama's eye MY sins were forgiven! Yes, i still have to keep repenting and asking, but not for the sake of forgiveness, for the sake of relationship. Keeping in perspective that HE is the LORD, the just ONE; yet he choose me for a special purpose and calling...AND he forgives me, over and over and over again. Why should i not take after his example? Why should i not choose to forgive in the hard moments of my life? When it hurts? When it's easier to be mad, and not forgive. If i choose to forgive i also must do this "be an unrestricted channel of God’s love for that person!" That means see them as God sees them, like Jesus: Perfect, Pure and Spotless.

So today i choose to forgive. I choose to not see people as mean, spotted creatures, but i choose to see them as my King sees me: Pure and beautiful, created for a purpose, and meaningful in this crazy thing we call life!

What are you going to do?

Just Smiles Blog

So the title tells all. I started a blog for my business... Just Smiles photography...check it out...

justsmilesphotography.blogspot.com

enjoy some of my favorite pics....only a few for now, but i have a hard time picking...i only have 6,000+ pictures on my computer to choose from....anyways...i'm going to use this blog to "advertise" my skills in Bend....so spread the word. Cassie LOVES taking pictures, and would love to take yours!

be blessed. be a blessing. Love Jesus. Love People.

so funny

ok my most recent post was so serious i think i will lighten up the mood...check out this link.... i hope it works...

http://www.hallmark.com/ECardWeb/ECV.jsp?a=4365172474487M000000N&product_id=

let me know if it doesn't....

blessings to each of you in Christ Jesu our Lord.

what is the will of God?

What is the will of God?

1 John 2:17 "The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

Let's be honest, at some point in our lives we all struggle with this question; What is the will of God in my life? Sometimes we think about it more because of our situation, or perhaps it's because of a choice we have to make...or maybe we are envisioning our future and we hope we are seeing the same thing that our Papa in Heaven is.

I've heard it said like this: "In order to know the will of God you must first know who he is. Who he is is Holy(set apart). So if we are walking in STEPS of Holiness, being set apart for righteousness in every situation than we are doing His will."

That sounds AWESOME!!! YAY i have an answer?!!?? not so fast. Putting this is practical everyday terms makes this so easy to say and so hard to walk out. Being set apart. What is that? What's it all about. Well I better have something i am set apart for... The will of God? Well then we are back to the beginning. Let's look it up....

Jeremiah 29:11-13
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

This is every other persons favorite verse? Why is that??? because it talks about a life of prosperity? no harm? I don't really think so. I think it's because to some extent it answers our question, not directly, but to some extent. "plans to give you a hope and a future." WOW that's good stuff. HOPE. That's what this world needs. A future. We all want tomorrow to come, and even if we are not sure what that future holds, because we have the HOPE first, we know it will be good. No matter if we live a life of prosperity by the worlds standards or not, we know we will prosper because of the HOPE to that which he has called us. He has given us the Hope that there is tomorrow. If tomorrow is working at a restaurant, or painting a mural at the park, if tomorrow is reading a book to a child or preaching THE WORD to 200 junior high students. NO matter what tomorrow holds if we have the HOPE of Jesus Christ living in us we have a future. If the future is Heaven, boy will we be in for an AWESOME surprise, but if the future is now, and now is where i am... then i my hope is that i live my now with passion, with fire, with something no one can take from me... my hope.

What is the will of God in my life? I don't know. I have absolutely no idea what things he has planned for me. I have a faint picture. I have a few prophetic words that i will hold on too... but let me say that they are not my hope. They are not what i hold on to. Oh no, I hold on to Jesus. He is my only ONE. He is my I AM. The one I hold on to in my moment of sorrow, of quietness, my moment when no one in the world seems to know that i am screaming out for LOVE and attention, when I am so lonely my own heart beat is more scary than an assurance of life. When the sound of the keys i am typing is a comfort. HE IS MY EVERYTHING. JESUS paid it all...Just so i could have Him all. He is my LOVE and my LIFE. He is the one i live and breathe to serve. MY hope is built on nothing less than HIM. HE IS MY HOPE.

This is how i know the will of God. When i hear Him whisper in my ear; "Well done good and faithful servant. Wait on me. Fall into my arms. let me carry the burden, you just hold my hand."

I heard this today and my heart cried out. My eyes let the tears fall, because so often i get caught up in WHAT IS THE WILL OF GOD ??? I forget to just be in it! The silence is deafening, and the cry of my heart pierces the night, but when i choose to quiet these things and let my PAPA, my ABBA God love me...my heart melts. and then i know: to be in the arms of the ONE who created all things satisfies my soul more than knowing all the plans of all my days ever could. This is the will of God: to know HIM.

the Bend Adventure Continues!

Unfortuatly for all you faithful blog checkers...i have been a slaker and have not posted for a while. but here i am today, making up for it =)

Let's see what's happened since my last post....hmm: SO Much! I'm keeping busy at Red Robin, which is good when the bills come flying in =) and my goal is to be the most joyful expo the Bend Red Robin has every seen, no mater what...everytime!!! It's going pretty good. I continually reminding my self it's about Jesus...and i need to be like him as much as possible.

Church. Where to start with how amazing it is?!?!?! I don't know! I love it so much. Emerge is such a blessing, that i hope i don't take for granted. A couple weeks ago we had close to 200 young adults on a thursday night, and that blows my mind! The worship is humbling, the messages inspiring and the leadership powerful! I pray that every church in America will be blessed with a young adult community like we have a Westside... I am burdened with the fact that my generation is "falling off the map" when we leave High School...We have the power to change our generation and the ones to follow, but we need leaders who will shepherd us to a world changing, Holy Spirit Powered movement!

Last weekend I had "the guys" here... smile you who came, cry those who missed it! It was so much fun showing them around Bend!! WE played football in the park, walked around downtown, tasted Bellatazza, hung out at Westside, and took an AMAZING hike out at Smith Rocks!!! Here are pics....
Me and my brother Jeremiah, who i hadn't seen since December! yay for Amazing siblings...


Me and the incredible creation God gave central Oregon!!!



The Central Oregon Night Snake we had the privalage of watching...do a lot of nothing...well it crawled aroung a little/ I did my research they are kinda rare so we are kinda special! oh and it was about 3 feet long!!!


A very cool picture I took from inside a rock!


Matt, Tim and Jeremiah...holding on for dear life as they peer over the edge!


that about sums it up. God is amazing, I Love where He has me: in the palm of His Hand. He won't let go, He never changes!

I hope you all are enjoying the beginings of Summer. I know i am!! yesterday it was 85* and it's been up to 92* this weekend so far!!! I miss all your smilin faces, and can't wait to see you when i do!!!